While no single event appeared to trigger the losses, analysts had long called for further downsides for Bitcoin, with Cointelegraph reporting on warnings from veteran forecaster Tone Vays during December’s lows which put put BTC/USD at $1,300.

Opinions remain split over Bitcoin’s likely performance in 2019. Mike Kayamori, CEO of cryptocurrency exchangeQuoine, produced one of the industry’s more bullish forecasts for this year, claiming it would hit all-time highs above $20,000 before 2020.

In altcoin markets, following a common theme of mimicking and then expanding on Bitcoin trends, some assets in the top twenty by market cap fell sharply.

Ethereum (ETH) had lost 6.8 percent at press time to trade at $108, while the listings were led by Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which shed 10.8 percent to hit $111.

Arthur Hayes, CEO of trading platform BitMEX, expects a reverse in fortunes for Ethereum as part of a renaissance of the initial coin offering (ICO) market. Once this begins, this year or next, ETH/BTC should return to $200 and higher, he told Cointelegraph.